Brewers Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month: August 2024

We will start, as always, with a couple of honorable mentions from another successful month by the Brewers starting prospects.

Honorable Mentions
RHP - Brett Wichrowski - Biloxi Shuckers - 4 G, 4 GS, 19.1 IP, 0-2, 1.86 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.04 WHIP, 10 H, 10 BB, 16 K
RHP - Chad Patrick - Nashville Sounds - 5 G, 5 GS, 25.0 IP, 3-0, 2.88 ERA, 4.78 FIP, 1.24 WHIP, 23 H, 8 BB, 24 K

TOP FIVE STARTING PITCHERS FOR AUGUST
#5 RHP - Carlos Rodriguez - Nashville Sounds - 5 G, 5 GS, 30.1 IP, 3-1, 2.37 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 0.93 WHIP, 13 H, 15 BB, 30 K

A former sixth round selection in 2021, Rodriguez was drafted out of Florida Southwestern State Junior College, which means you can include him on the growing list of JuCo pitchers that have succeeded, or are showing signs of future success, in the Brewers system. 

Rodriguez is a six pitch pitcher who throws the kitchen sink at hitters and keeps them off balance. His repertoire was discussed more at length in this article from prior to his debut. While the gist of that article is still accurate, Rodriguez has pitched a bit differently in Nashville compared to his MLB stint. 

In August, Rodriguez’s pitch usage went in the following order; four-seam fastball, changeup, curveball, sinker, cutter, slider. During his time in the big leagues, his usage was as follows; sinker, four-seam, cutter, changeup, slider, curveball.

Rodriguez has gone with his offspeed offerings far more often in Triple-A and it has paid off. His changeup in particular ran a 44% whiff rate in August. All six pitches played well for the month, and while the four-seam was the pitch that got hit the hardest, it was still better than the average four-seam compared to the league. The main issue Rodriguez ran into this month was too many walks, walking nearly a batter every two innings.

Rodriguez was forced into action at the big league level earlier than he should have been. He’s largely been a solid pitcher for the Sounds, in an environment that heavily swings toward hitters. He’s a guy who could make starts for the Brewers again next season, and perhaps become more of a mainstay a year or two later.

#4 LHP - Brian Fitzpatrick - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - 3 G, 3 GS, 15 IP, 2-1, 1.20 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 0.93 WHIP, 10 H, 4 BB, 17 K
Unranked by all publications

Fitzpatrick was the Brewers 10th round selection in 2022 out of Rutgers. A lefty who had put up decent numbers his senior year of college, but really showed some potential in the Cape Cod League where he threw 19 scoreless innings with a 19 to 2 K:BB ratio. August was a continuation of a solid July, as Fitzpatrick made his transition to the rotation full time.

Despite an imposing 6’7 frame, Fitzpatrick is more of a finesse pitcher than a flamethrower. He throws his fastball in the 89-92 range, though he can get up a little higher than that at times. He also appears to have some cut action on his fastball once in a while. 

Fitpatrick’s low-80’s slider has been better in pro ball than it was in college and is a really good swing and miss pitch against lefties. He has done a better job of using it against right handed hitters as well, but his go-to secondary against righties is his changeup, which might be his best pitch. He is able to kill the spin on the changeup and it generates a lot of his swings and misses, coming in around 82-83 MPH.

For the month, Fitzpatrick generated whiffs at around a league average rate (26.8%), but he was able to get ground balls at a much higher rate than any other month, getting them on 60% of balls in play. That ground ball rate placed him in the 97th percentile for High-A pitchers with at least 13 innings in August.

Fitzpatrick is pretty old for the level, and he’s put up strong numbers, both as a reliever and a starter. The injury probably means he won’t see Double-A this year, but he seems like a strong candidate to begin his 2025 at that level.

#3 LHP - Nate Peterson - Biloxi Shuckers - 4 G, 3 GS, 18.0 IP, 1-1, 1.50 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 1.33 WHIP, 17 H, 7 BB, 20 K.
Unranked by all publications

The Brewers 8th round pick in the 2022 draft out of the University of Illinois-Chicago has had his fair share of struggles this season, but he was able to put together a fantastic August and find his way onto this list.

Peterson throws a fastball in the 91-93 range, at times touching 94 MPH. His main secondary is his 86-88 MPH cutter that acts more like a short slider at times. He will also mix in a bigger breaking ball with some sweep to it. That one is thrown in the low 80’s. His fourth pitch is a changeup that he really struggles to command, but when he does get it up, it shows some fade to it.

In August, Peterson generated whiffs at a 34.8% rate, which was the highest of any month in his two year professional career. More importantly, Peterson was able to keep the ball in the yard extremely effectively. His previous low for a month this year was three home runs allowed. In August he only allowed one long ball. 

Peterson has some work to do on his game, and seems like a good candidate to repeat Double-A in 2025. However, the hope is that he can build off of such a successful August and make his way to Nashville at some point next year.

#2 RHP - Mitch White - Nashville Sounds - 5 G, 4 GS, 21.0 IP, 3-1, 2.14 ERA, 2.87 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, 14 H, 6 BB, 24 K
Unranked by all publications

Mitch White? Mitch White!

White spent time in Milwaukee with the Brewers this year, and it did not go well, to put it nicely. He went unclaimed after being DFA’d and was moved to the starting rotation in Nashville after pitching exclusively out of the bullpen for Milwaukee.

Much like Carlos Rodriguez, White’s repertoire is mostly the same as it was earlier this season, but there have been some tweaks that helped lead to some incredible success in August. First, his fastball velocity is up about one MPH on the four-seam. 

White has also swapped the usage of his sweeper and slider. His sweeper was used second most with the Brewers, while the slider was used the least of his five pitches. He has gone to heavy slider usage with Nashville, making that his second most used pitch, and the sweeper now ranks fifth. The slider velocity is also up about two MPH. He still uses a sinker and curveball to round out the repertoire.

None of White’s pitches were hit hard in August, with all of his pitches posting well above average whiff rates on them (outside of his slider, which was mainly used to generate grounders). His 32.4% whiff rate was his best in a month all year and so was his strikeout to walk rate of 4.0, nearly doubling his previous high for the season. 

White is extremely unlikely to impact the Brewers again this season, but he does seem like someone they will try to keep around on a minor league deal for 2025. There have been legitimate strides in both his stuff and his results, and he seems to mesh well with the organization. It could make sense for both sides.

#1 RHP - K.C. Hunt - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Biloxi Shuckers - 5 G, 5 GS, 27.2 IP, 1-2, 1.95 ERA, 2.20 FIP, 0.90 WHIP, 22 H, 3 BB, 35 K.

Back to back months as the number one starter, after previously taking home the number one spot in April’s version of the Reliever of the Month list, the 2023 Undrafted Free Agent signee transitioned to the rotation in June, and he has taken to it incredibly well so far. His first start of August was as a T-Rat, but the final four took place at the Double-A level.

Hunt’s high-spin fastball sits in the 92-94 range and works well at the top of the zone, though he also does a good job of hitting the low and outside corner with the pitch. He has a four pitch mix and while the fastball is closer to average than great, his breaking balls are a different story.

His mid-80’s bullet slider is a plus pitch that generates a ton of swing and miss. He also throws an upper 70’s curveball that is a little more inconsistent, but also flashes as a plus pitch and has a lot of depth to it. Hunt will also mix in a changeup on occasion. The changeup is a work in progress, but does give a hitter something else to think about.

Hunt finished his time in High-A with five shutout innings, racking up six strikeouts and walking only one. In his first start with Biloxi he went 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight and only allowing three hits, one of which was a solo homer for his lone run allowed. He went at least 5 1/3 IP in each start at the level and struck out at least six in all four starts as well.

Only walking three all month, his already stellar strikeout to walk ratio was actually the best it had been in any month this year, coming in at a ridiculous 11.67. Per TruMedia, that number was good for eighth out of 450 pitchers to throw at least 13 innings between High-A and Double-A in August. His whiff rate of 36.1% was in the 89th percentile.

Hunt has had arguably the most unexpected season of any player in the system. Going from an Undrafted Free Agent just 13 months ago, to a “Top 30” type of prospect in the system, and already dominating at Double-A is unheard of. With his continued dominance at this level, it’s hard to rule out K.C. as an option (whether it be in a bullpen role, or starting role) for the Brewers, as soon as next season.

Please share your opinions! Do any of these names stand out?

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